Rubber heel



Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to the shoe industry, and particularly to rubberheels for use on shoes of various kinds.

One of the drawbacks of rubber heels is that they become readily worn onthe lower face thereof and particularly at the rear of the heel.

It is an object of my invention to provide a rubber heel which will beso reinforced as to substantially lengthen the life of the heel bypreventing the quick wearing of the heel at the rear edge thereof.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing object as well as furtherobjects and advantages will be made manifest in the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the preferred embodiment of the heel ofmy invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the heel of my inventionapplied toa shoe.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the reinforcing member of my invention.

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the heel shown in Fig. 1 mounted on a shoe.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the rubber heel 10 of myinvention is shown as including a body of rubber I l of the usual shape,this body having a number of nail holes l2 formed therein, each of theseholes having a washer l3 embedded in the rubber body ll around the holeadjacent its lower end. Also formed in the rubber body II are nail holes14. Surrounding each of the holes I4 is one of a pair of ears l5 whichare shaped identically like the washers I3, but which are embodied in areinforcing member I6 including an arcuate plate I'I provided with legsl8 which integrally connect the plate I! with the washer-like ears l5.

Permanently secured upon the lower or wearing face IQ of the plate 11 isa facing 20 of extremely hard material such as tungsten carbide or thelike. The heels H] are preferably in right and left styles, the heel asshown being for a left shoe as the reinforcing members 16 are preferablylocated on the rear outer edge of the heel.

In the manufacture of the rubber heel ID the washers l3 and thereinforcing member I6 are all held in place in the mold by suitablefixtures on the mold and the rubber forced around these elements so asto fill the mold. This results in the washers 13 being embedded deepinthe rubber and the reinforcing member I6 is also embedded thereinexcepting that the plate I! and its facing 20 are disclosed at the rearedge of the heel as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

In applying the rubber heel ID to the shoe 25 as shown in Fig. 3suitable nails 26 are driven into the holes I2 and 14 so as to passthrough the washers I3 and ears l5 and into the sole of the shoev 25.The heel I0 is thus securely fastened to the shoe and the member 16 isat the same time anchored by the nails 26 to the shoe.

In using the heel ID of my invention it is found that although themember [6 is formed of metal no noise is caused by walking on this heel.This is believed to result from the fact that the member is cushionedfrom the shoe 25 on which the heel is shown applied in Figs. 3 and 5 bya considerable portion of the rubber body II which is disposed betweenthe member I6 and the shoe 25.

It is thus seen that I have produced a rubber heel which will have amuch longer life than 5 rubber heels in general use yet without reducingmy invention which also should be pointed out is the protection of theheel from wearing by the member IS without diminishing the resiliency ofthe heel itself. It is of course evident that the member l6 byprotecting the rear edge of the heel insures that the originalresiliency of the rubber heel will be maintained until the member l6 hasbeen worn away, thus greatly increasing the effective life of the heel.

What I claim is:

In a rubber heel the combination of: a rubber heel body, having an upperattaching face and a lower wearing face, and nail holes formed in saidwearing face spaced inwardly substantially equal distances from theouter edge of said body; washers embedded in said body about said nailholes; a block of metal embedded in said body to conform with a portionof the rear outer edge of said body to one side of the center of saidbody and having its lowermost surface lying in the plane of said wearingface, said block at its ends overlapping an adjacent pair of saidWashers; and means for connecting said block to said washers.

FRANK P. WRIGHT.

